Posted: Sun 21 Oct 2007, 17:46 Post subject:
Tecra/Protege stops booting at Xvesa and Xorg (SOLVED)Subject description: An old problem that has workarounds, but not "solved" until now. Get fix on page 3 of this thread.

I have created a modified version of the 3.01 (/usr/sbin) xorgwizard that prevents the hang by avoiding the invocation of the "Xvesa -listmodes" command, which is what hangs (but could be broken out of by ctrl-c). It checks ddcprobe.txt for the problematic NeoMagic MagicGraph video adapter name and supplies the needed list. In addition, it augments the ddcprobe listing to include "timing:" info for 1024x768 and 800x600 resolutions that are missing (but are appropriate).

The adapter is labeled "'oem: MagicGraph 256 AV 44K PRELIMINARY'" in ddcprobe.txt. Fortunately, I have an old ThinkPad that uses a similar adapter (but not "preliminary"), so I used part of the "listmodes" output from it. (It shows no "timing:" lines, but that is another issue.) Here is the added logic (starting with line 477), that puts the Xvesa call into an "else" clause:

I am attaching the entire script for anyone wanting to try it. The technique might be useful for xorg hangs with other video adapters.

It does bother me to code for specific hardware in a general script, but I do not yet have the skills to "do it right". By that I mean that the text lines should be defined in a data file(s) that is read by the script, so that other special cases might be added (such as my ThinkPad that reports no timings at all). My concept is of a "ddcprobe-fixes" file and a "Xvesa-fixes" file, each containing lines with two quoted fields consisting of the identifying string and the appropriate additions to ddcprobe.txt or Xmodes.txt. The files could be accessed by the same internal function (applyfixesfunc?) with parameters.

This does not address the hanging if the Xvesa option is chosen instead of Xorg, but it is a start.

Richard

EDIT: I also modified line 750 (previously 743) to sort the "finalchoices" lines into ascending numerical resolution order:

Thanks, both, for your good feedback. I think I should try to address the different resolutions. It may be possible, but I need your help, cherriepuppy.

If you would enter "ddcprobe" in a terminal on your portege and tell me what the output lines beginning with "timing:" are, we may see the way to a solution. Mine shows lines for 720x400, 640x480, and 1024x768. I am hoping that yours will not show the 1024x768 line and may have an 800x600 line instead.

I am pleased that my work has prompted you, zigbert, to give your tecra a try. I hope more people will use my fix and will tell me of any problems. I would especially like to know if the troublesome adapter is used with resolutions other than 800x600 and 1024x768.

Thanks, cherriepuppy; you provided just what I was looking for. Your Portege does not yield the "timing: 1024x768. . ." line that my Tecra does.

So I changed my logic to look for the "1024" line before appending new "1024" lines. They are needed because the wizard filters out the line that ddcpeobe produces. The original download posting should now have the new version.

Thanks for your help in perfecting this fix. Now, if I could only figure out how to fix this for the XVESA option; I am not optimistic.

As a matter of interest this did not work with a Toshiba TE 2000, it still hung at the hardware probe after selecting Xorg.I remastered the 3.0.1 cd with the rehashed xorgwizard ( this was the only way I could figure to do it?)and tried it on the laptop with the same result as before i.e. after selecting Xorg the pink hardware probe line flashes on the screen then a second or two later comes on and that is the end of the deal. I loaded the modified cd on my computer and it behaved normally other than having to be prompted with xorgwizard-tecra as I did not change the name before I burned the cd. Also the screen that shows with the resolution included the lower resolutions not shown on my computer normally.
I dont know if this info is of any use to you or if there is any way to modify what you have done so it works on the TE2000. I only know enough about this stuff to know how much I dont know.!!!
Regards Dennis

Thanks for your post, dalderton. Your info is very useful to me and may lead to expanding my fix to support more laptops, since the symptom appears to be the same as I saw.

But first, be sure you are doing all that is necessary. When you boot from your remastered CD and it hangs at the pink "probing" line, press ctrl-c and see the command prompt. At that point enter "xorgwizard-tecra" and see if that works. If so, that just means that you needed to rename the -tecra version to xorgwizard in /usr/sbin, renaming the old one first or replacing it.

If neither works, then maybe we are dealing with a different problematic adapter. The starting point is to look at the output of the ddcprobe command, which identifies the built-in video adapter and some of the resolutions it supports. (See cherriepuppy's above, for what I am looking for.) You can see this if you boot with your CD, press ctrl-c at the pink-probing hang, then at the prompt simply enter "ddcprobe" (w/o quotes).

I need you to tell me the contents of the lines starting with "oem:" and "timing:". Meanwhile, I will research that model online so I know what we should shoot for.

EDIT: I see that the TE2000 has a Trident XP4 graphics processor, which is different than that in the 8000. That explains why the fix doesn't work for you. So let's try adding a fix for it. After you get the ddcprobe info above, try something that should result in the hang again; at the command prompt enter "Xvesa -listmodes", noting the upper-case X. If that hangs, press ctrl-c to break out of it. That would confirm that we are dealing with the same problem. Thanks for your help.

Richard
Thanks for that.I will do as you say later this evening and post a reply as soon as I can.If this was a mechanical thing I would say that the point that the hardware probe line comes is the stopper or a metaphorical spanner in the works .Will reply soon. Thanks again Regards Dennis
Incidentally I did play with the file name and entered it as -tecra and changed it to xorgwizard and it made no difference. Dennis
ddcprobe
mode:132*43 (text)
mode:132*60 (text)
mode: 80*60 (text)
edid:
edid: 1 3
id 5082
eisa: TOS 5082
serial:00000000
manufacture: 1990
input: analog signal
screensize: 29 22
gamma: 1.000000
dpms: RGB, no active off, suspend, standby
timing: 720*400@70Hz (VGA 640*400, IBM)
timing: 640*480@70Hz (VESA)
timing: 800*600@72Hz (VESA)
timing:1024*768@87Hz Interlaced (8514a)
ctiming: 1280*1024@60
ctiming: 1600*1200@60
dtiming: 1024*768@74
monitorname: TOSHIBA Inte
monitorname: rnal panel
monitorname:

oem:Trident CYBER 8820
vbe: VESA 2.0
I had to transcribe this from a ubuntu live cd and it is not exactly as it comes on the screen but I hope it has all the info you need .I think the only stuff missing is some of the modes. See how you go.I live in hope Regards Dennis

Thanks for the ddcprobe results. They give me enough to update the script to work for your laptop. But maybe we should try another test first.

If you can somehow edit the xorgwizard-tecra file, change the text that identifies the adapter we are looking for. At worst, you could use the e3 editor after ctrl-c-ing out of the hang (or by booting with pfix=nox).

The line to change is #479 (in geany), which is:
if grep -q 'oem: MagicGraph 256 AV 44K PRELIMINARY' /tmp/ddcprobe.txt;then

I did another live CD remaster with the mods to your /usr/sbin/xorgwizard file and tried it and when it got to the contentious part it did not go to the xorgwizard gui and put up the usual lines when x does not start concluding with type xorgwizard This resulted in -sh: /usr/sbin/xorgwizard: permission denied. I then tried alt f2, login as root password: woofwoof and xorgwizard and got the permission denied line again. I hope this all means something to you and apologize for useing what is probably your valuable time.I am retired so it does not matter to me.If I need to alter permissions spell it out for me,it is something that I have never got on top of.(one of the many reasons I like Puppy is that it is not normally involved)I put it down to declining number of brain cell in my declining years Regards Dennis
EDIT I just tried the disc in my normal computer and it did exactly the same as described above.hope this helps. Dennis

Richard Bingo!!!! IT works and I have installed it on the hard disk.It loads OK but does not go to the xorgwizard the first time it boots and I went through the chmod and the xorgwizard did its stuff then xwin and whoopee. Second time I booted it,it was seamless and all is now well.I have not booted windows yet but i dont care.It will be interesting to see if Puppy recognizes the internal modem.I will post again when I work that out. Thank you very much for you efforts and patience,it is much appreciated. Regards Dennis Alderton (Mandurama,Central West .NSW,Australia

Posted: Wed 07 Nov 2007, 12:15 Post subject:
Open-ended version of the fixSubject description: Allows addition of adapters for this special treatment.

That's good news, Dennis. In anticipation of your success, I updated my script mods to use a file containing the identification of video adapters that hang up Xvesa. I am attaching it.

When you find the time, could you verify that it works on your laptop? The included readme.txt file tells where the name file goes. I will be away for a week (but checking the forum occasionally), so take your time. Thanks, again, for your help in making this ready to submit to Barry.
Richard

You cannot post new topics in this forumYou cannot reply to topics in this forumYou cannot edit your posts in this forumYou cannot delete your posts in this forumYou cannot vote in polls in this forumYou cannot attach files in this forumYou can download files in this forum